MRC scientists elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences
10 May 2011
The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) has elected 40 leading medical researchers to join the ranks of its Fellows.
Academy Fellows are elected for outstanding contributions to the advancement of medical science, for innovative application of scientific knowledge or for their conspicuous service to healthcare. Many of those elected have at some point in their careers received support from the Medical Research Council, and three are currently MRC senior scientists.
Professor Paul Bolam FMedSci is a senior MRC scientist and heads a group in the MRC Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit in Oxford. The group is devoted to understanding the function of a region of the brain called the basal ganglia in normal conditions and in models of Parkinson's disease. Professor Bolam is also a member of the MRC Neurosciences and Mental Health Board.
Dr Andrew McKenzie FMedSci is a senior staff scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Dr McKenzie’s group studies how the immune system regulates antibody production and how dysregulation can lead to diseases such as asthma, autoimmunity and leukaemia.
Professor Dominic Withers FMedSci heads a group in the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre in London. His research is focused on the role of hormone and nutrient-regulated signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, obesity and age-related disease. Professor Withers is also a member of the MRC Population and Systems Medicine Board.
The expertise of the new AMS Fellows’ spans cardiac surgery, medicinal chemistry, respiratory medicine, health services research, medical jurisprudence, global health and infectious disease. A full list is available on the AMS website: www.acmedsci.ac.uk
Professor Sir John Bell FRS HonFREng PMedSci, president of the AMS, said: “These new Fellows demonstrate the amazing talent present in the UK biomedical community. Thanks to these exceptional individuals the UK is home to some of the best medical science in the world. I am delighted that the Academy can recognise the vital role each one of them has played in delivering health and wealth benefits to the UK and beyond. Their work has ensured scientific discoveries make rapid progress from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside and I look forward to working with them.”
The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on Wednesday 29 June 2011.
